Greys into Rainbows
by Mana Karid
Summary: Marietta Yew, a science prodigy, is almost socially inept & would rather study Pokémon. So when Professor Elm orders her to go on a trip around the world to collect information, she has to see the world not through the eyes of a scientist, but a human. Watch as she journeys with new friends & stumble along the way. T for language and suggestive content at times.
1. The Start of an Adventure

So, this story stemmed from a conversation I had with a friend, which led to 'What would it be like if the real world was placed if we were in the Pokemon world?' So I gathered all of my friends to help co-write/ be my inspiration for this fanfiction.

Therefore, all OCs in this are based on people I know. Except Marietta. She's based on me. (NOT A MARYSUE. She's me in my friends' eyes. Literally.)

The story begins maybe 5 years after the event of Gold, Silver, Heart Gold, and Soul Silver.

**Disclaimer**: Pssshh, I wish I owned Pokemon. All OCs are mine, though.

* * *

Marietta Yew was entirely alright studying Pokemon in Professor Elm's for the rest of her life. she could be sent samples of Pokemon DNA, & she'll just send an assistant whenever she needed to get someone herself.

It wasn't like she had any family to depend on; Marietta's father went off to find the an unknown Pokemon called 'Missingno.', her mother abandoned her for some man, her sisters went on their own adventures years ago, & she wasn't close to any of her other relatives. She herself decided to be Professor's Elm's apprentice of sorts (a position his wife & son happily welcomed).

The 15 year old prodigy had her life planned out, & she was perfectly content with it.  
However, Professor Elm would have none of that.

* * *

"No."

"Marie-"

"I said _no,_ professor."

"I really need the data, though!"

"And you can't send another assistant?"

"I want you to collect the data, Marie! You show a lot of potential, but you won't ever be successful if you don't deal with other people. This journey will help you in more ways than one. Research isn't all about staying inside the lab, you know!"

Marie sighed as she continued to brush the Cyndaquil's head. Professor Elm had been bothering her for days about her collecting data for him, & frankly, she just didn't want to. Plus, who would make sure he didn't get too wrapped up in his research & forget to eat again? She continued to ignore his attempts to persuade her to go the journey for him. The Cyndaquil chirped his name in pleasure when she started to rub that one spot on his head that he loved.

Finally, Professor Elm threw his hands up in the air and said, "I really didn't want to do this, but I will."

He crouched down & he looked down into Marietta's eyes, & in a serious voice, he said, "Marie, if you don't go for me, I will burn your Teddiursa bears & give your laptop to Ethan."

Marie froze.

**_'He didn't really mean that._**

**_..._**

**_does he..?'_**

As if he read her mind, he warned, "I mean it, Marietta."

_**'Damn.'**_

She knew this wasn't going to end up well for her either way. She didn't want to hurt professor Elm, so that option was out of the way. She weighed her options.

After a few moments, Marie asked, "..How long would it be?"

"Maybe a couple of years. Of course, you're welcome to come back to visit every now and then."

"…. Can I bring Effy?" Effy was her trusty Espeon, who she had since she was quite little.

"Oh, of course!"

"How about Ashes?"

Professor Elm knitted his eyebrows in confusion. "Who?"

She held up Cyndaquil, who happily chirped. "This is Ashes."

"Oh…. Yes, that's fine!"

"Can I bring my laptop?"

"That would be a hassle to bring, but it's fine."

She pondered for a few seconds, and then nodded. "… Fine, I'll go."

Professor Elm cheered as Marietta ignored him.

* * *

"I am not wearing that."

Marie stared at the red tank top, short white cardigan, yellow cap, and tight shorts* Professor Elm's wife, Nancy**, laid out on her bed. While it was perfectly normal for a girl her age to wear something like that, she slowly backed away from it as if it was a monster.

"I borrowed this from the nice family next door, Marie! Did you know their daughter helped defeat Team Rocket a few years ago? What was her name... Ah yes, Kris! Don't you think that it'd be nice to wear something like this?"

"No, Auntie, I don't." She visibly shuddered at the thought of wearing it.

With a sigh, Nancy pulled out a red hoodie, short overalls, & a giant white hat with a red ribbon* borrowed from another famous neighbor of theirs. Effy, who was lying on top of Marie's pillow, swiped at it then turned away as if in disgust. Nancy stared at Marie, and with a motherly voice, she said, "You have to pick something to wear. These are the next few years of your life! I think you'd want everyone to have a good impression of you, don't you?"

"But I don't want people to think I'm something I'm not. My clothes are just fine, Auntie. I'll pack a few nice clothes, but that's it. I'm going to collect data, not meeting the love of my life."

"Well, I'm sure there is a wonderful-"

"Auntie, don't go there."

Nancy let out a woeful sigh, but smiled. "You're finally growing up into a beautiful young woman Marietta."

Marie rubbed the back of her head. Embarrassed, she mumbled, "I'm only going away for a while. Don't worry, I'll come back."

They stared at each other for a second, then giggled.

* * *

After a couple of days, Marie was finally ready. She grabbed the large black shoulder bag from the table & quickly climbed down the stairs with Effy right behind her. She walked into the kitchen for the last meal she would have in that house for months.

It wasn't a very complex meal, with no tears or chatter over where she was going. It was actually quite silent, which was very unusual. It even disturbed Marie, who enjoyed silence. The only noise heard was the clattering of utensils as they ate.

Finally, it was time for Marietta Yew to go on her journey. She had packed everything & started to say her farewells to the Elm family before the professor interrupted. He handed her a small grey device & something that looked a bit like a stopwatch. She looked up at him, slightly confused as to why he gave her them.

"It's a Pokedex," Elm explained. "Of course, you already know that, but you should keep it with you to save and collect information on new Pokemon. If you hook it up at a Pokemon Center, it will send a copy of the data to the lab. Also, if you go to new regions, the other professors can update your Pokedex. And This-" He gestured to the stopwatch device." is a Pokegear. You can use it to call us whenever you want!"

Marie examined the Pokedex in her hand. It was shaped like a cellphone, with an icon similar to a Pokeball on the lower half of it. When she pressed the button, the upper half flipped open to reveal two screens. Data from Ashes and Effy were already in there. The other device was smaller and white. She pressed the small button on the side, opening it to reveal a small screen. She thanked him profusely before looking down at Neil**.

"You better behave & study, or else you'll never catch up to me, okay?" Marie teased.

"What are you talking about? I'm going to become an awesome professor before you do!"

She laughed, & said her farewells. As she exited the lab, she called out,"I'll come back soon!"

And off she went, a young girl with pale skin clad in a long black coat, an Espeon trotting by her side.

Thus beginning the adventure of Marietta Yew.

* * *

*- The clothes obviously are a reference to Kris and Lyra.

**- I don't think Elm's wife & son had a name, & I thought Neil & Nancy were great generic names. Auntie is used by Marie to describe Nancy as a maternal figure while Neil is like a little, competitive brother.

Please critique and review.


	2. Heavy Weight

Thank you for all the positive feedback!

You know what I just realized? The Cyndaquil's name is Ashes, Ash had a Cyndaquil, and yeah... I just didn't want to name him Cinders.

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Pokemon, I'd be bloody rich. But I'm not, so I don't.

* * *

You know how some people say the hardest part of the journey is the first step?

Well, it wasn't for Marietta. Nor was it for Effy, based on her yawning. To them, it seemed more like a friendly stroll to Mr. Pokemon's house to receive another Egg.

So she went off in a rather nonchalant manner, wading into the long grasses that led to Cherrygrove City. She noted that it became slightly longer than it had been a few weeks earlier, & that someone would have to cut it shorter later. It felt slightly itchy against her legs, and apparently that also bothered Effy, who jumped into Marie's arms.

She, in return, stared at her & mumbled,"You're lucky that you're smaller than other Espeon..."

Around the small party, Marie could hear the calls of Pokemon. Pidgey peeped up ahead & in trees, the wings of Ledyba buzzed through the air, and Rattata squeaked below in the shrubbery & grass. She could feel one moving by her leg before quickly running away.

To her right, Marie could see the tip of the building leading to Route 46. She went up the path and contemplated going through it to perhaps obtain a Geodude or an Aipom early, but decided against it. Instead, she turned left toward Cherrygrove City and continued to do so before she was rudely interrupted by a Pidgey swiping down to her head.

"What the-" She was cut short as the Pidgey did it again, possibly to obtain some sort of mysterious berry or treat from her hair, and continued to do so until Marie finally had enough. She ducked out of the way and glared at the bird, who flew down until it was floating about 2 feet in the air.

**'You want me to take care of it?'** Effy spoke into her mind, the red gem glowing as she did so. Marie rarely used whatever 'psychic' ability that she had (she thought that her mind worked as an extremely complex electric apparatus that detected very minute magnetic fields from other people's brains and determined what they were thinking. But no one would understand her if she said that, so she didn't even bother explaining.)

**'No, Ashes needs to learn how to fight.'** Marietta grasped the Pokeball from the pocket of her large black coat and released it wordlessly, making Ashes appear with a bright light. She also took out her Pokedex to scan the bird (though she was _sure_ that another trainer had the sense to scan a frickin' Pidgey).

"Cynda?" Ashes looked up at his trainer timidly, obviously slightly confused.

She squatted down and told him,"I want you to fight that Pidgey over there, okay."

"C-cynda?!" The Cyndaquil flailed around slightly, but he saw that she had given her a slightly pleading look (not really. He was just imagining it). Not wanting to sadden his beloved trainer that gave him plenty of food and affection, he gave in.

Marie smiled a sort of half-smile. "Thanks."

He turned around & faced the Pidgey. The bird taunted him silently through his eyes, angering him slightly.

"Tackle." Ashes charged and leaped into the air toward the enemy Pokemon, making it squawk in pain. In retaliation, it pecked back continuously at him, & both just started having a bit of a catfight. Marie watched from afar in amusement.

**'Don't touch my trainer!' **Ashes chirped angrily in their Pokemon language. He leered at the bird, slightly intimidating it before tackling it again.

**'B-but why does the human smell so nice!?'** Effy relayed the message to Marie, who in turn cocked her head in confusion before reasoning that it must be that weird perfume Auntie gave her.

**'That gives you no right!'**

**'But Berries!'**

**'NO!' **With a flare of his back, Ashes charged at the bird and knocked him over with his weight, effectively knocking him out. He peeped victoriously saying in his language, **' I did it, I did it! Are you proud of me, trainer, huh?!'**

Marie chuckled slightly from the message from Effy. "Yes, you did very well."

**'YAAAY!' **He started running up to her in pure joy of making her proud, leaping up into the girl's empty arms (Effy had went to rest beside a tree to watch the battle).

However, there is one thing that both did not take into account (and possibly couldn't have known).

You see, Marie, being as secretly weak to cute things and awkwardly affectionate as she is, liked treating to Ashes to treats. All the time.

And while Effy was quite small for her species (she didn't like indulging herself), Ashes was much the opposite, though still agile.

Time for some math.

See, normal Cyndaquil are about 7.9 kilograms, or 17.4 pounds.

Ashes was 28.5 pounds, or about 12.3 kilograms.

If you have a calculator or really good at division, you'd know that means Ashes is almost 64% fatter than most Cyndaquil. (He _is_ 4 inches taller than a regular 1'08" Cyndaquil, though.)

So when Ashes landed into Marie's arms, you could imagine the researcher's surprise at the Pokemon's... _heaviness_.

"Oh _wow-_" Marie recoiled back from the unexpected weight, crashing her head into the tree that she wasn't entirely aware was there. Shocked by the pain, she lost her balance & fell against the tree, still holding Ashes.

**_'Marietta, look__ up!'_ **Quickly collecting herself, Marie did as Effy had told her, concerned at the tone of her voice.

Well, she didn't believe that she knocked into the tree _that _hard.

But apparently, she had. And was able to irritate the several Pokemon that inhabited it, which comprised of 5 HootHoots, an Exeggcute, 2 Ledyba, 3 Spinarak, and a Pineco.

_'Well shit.'_ Marie cursed in her mind. She fixed the position of her glasses as she observed the expressions of the miffed and angry Pokemon. They obviously weren't amused.

_'Oh, what terrible luck I have.'_

Ashes, without hesitation, jumped at one of the HootHoots, effectively injuring it, and all Hell broke loose as the wild Pokemon started attacking.

"Effy!" Marie commanded her most trusted companion, knowing that she knew just what to do. The Espeon's gem glowed as her eyes glinted. For a split second, she became nearly invisible before striking the Exeggcute and knocking it out. Effy signaled for Ashes to jump and then released star like rays that striked 1 Spinarak and most of the HootHoots except for one, making them faint. One of the Ledyba tried to tackle the feline, but she attacked it before it could, extremely injuring it. During that time, Ashes had frightened away and knocked out the rest of the Spinarak.

The last Ledyba ran away in fear of the deadly glint in Effy's eyes, leaving the Pineco (who was half-injured from indirectly being hit from Effy's Swift) behind.

The weak Pineco hung from his tree branch, fearing it would be hurt more. But instead, Marie looked up and studied him, having told the Cyndaquil and Espeon to stop after scanning the data from the battle and the wild Pokemon.

"Pineco, the bag worm Pokemon. It is shaped like a pine cone, which is a thick shell that protects it. It hangs from tree branches, and waits patiently for flying insects to come by*." She read aloud the Pokedex entry before looking up at the Bug-Type. She stared at it for several minutes before finally stating, "I always liked insects. And plants. You want to come with me?"

Pineco blinked in surprise. He didn't believe a trainer would really _want_ him. Humans preferred HootHoots and Ledybas, not a creepy pine cone that could explode. He had heard that several of his brothers and sisters were captured only to be put away forever. He didn't want to end up like them!

But this trainer- the human girl did not judge him. More rather, she found him a little interesting! It was the first time a human had actually treated him with something other than disgust and cruelty (the Bug Catchers ignored him, really). Pineco grunted his liking to the strange person, who was obviously very unusual.

Marie smirked a little, knowing she had his agreement, and dug out a Pokeball from her shoulder bag. She flung the ball straight at the Pineco, slightly knocking him before engulfing the pine cone in light. The brightness soon disappeared, and the Pokeball came back to her. She looked at the ball in satisfaction, deciding not to nickname him, and went onwards.

* * *

Marietta trained her Pokemon before reaching Cherrygrove City, levelling up Pineco to a considerable 3 levels, and Ashes 2 (respectively, they learned Self Destruct and Smokescreen). Effy simply watched and only fought when her two juniors were too tired.

Marie visited the town often; she had to when going to see Mr. Pokemon. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the kind old man who frequently helped new trainers. She enjoyed his company; his cheerfulness was rather infectious and his puns were quite clever. Still, she treated him with the awkward politeness she showed most elders, a murmur of 'hello' and 'have a nice day' before leaving.

She passed the Pokemon Center to instead go into the Poke Mart to purchase more potions and other items before going back to the prominent building. It wasn't very busy; there were a couple of trainers littered around, a Chansey pushing a cart, and there was Nurse Joy at the Reception desk. Marie asked her to heal her Pokemon, and as she waited, she sat on a nearby table and took out her laptop. There was nothing interesting on the small TV in the lounge, so she went to comment on her 'Pokemon journey' on her blog before typing up a journal of the data she collected thus far. She noticed that one of her online 'friends' commented, Artemis_Oakley. She had chatted with the person before, and they seemed nice and friendly.

It was a simple statement. All it said was, 'Hope it goes well! Maybe we'll meet.'

"Ms. Yew?" Marie flinched, not noticing there was someone near her before realizing it was Nurse Joy and turned to look at her. "Your Pokemon are healed. Are you going to stay for the night?"

She looked back at the computer, seeing it was only around 1:30 PM. She replied curtly, "No, thank you."

After the nurse gave back Marie's Pokemon and left her to attend to other duties, Marie got up and packed everything. Effy climbed over her shoulder and simply laid there, obviously not planning to get off anytime soon. As she headed out the door, she accidentally brushed up against a tall boy with curly hair, not much older than her.

"Ah, sorry," he grinned. "Didn't see you there."

"Umm... It's okay...?"

The boy laughed and left to most likely heal his Pokemon. He was about 6 feet tall, towering over her own 5 feet.**

Marie dismissed the boy from her head, and headed off, hoping to maybe to at least get to Mr. Pokemon's house before nightfall.

**_'Let's continue, Marietta.'_ **With Effy's thoughts into her head, she stepped onto Route 30.

* * *

*- This is just a mixture of Pineco's entry from every game.

**- I'm actually shorter than this. I'm 4'10 1/2". ... Don't judge me.

If you're confused by Marie's Pokemon, it's a bit like this:

Effy- level 23 (She's been with Marietta for years, and has more training; she's usually too vain or unwilling to fight, unless her peers or Marie is in danger. Extremely intelligent.)

Ashes- level 7 (was the starter that wasn't picked. Marietta liked treating him, so he's a bit chubby, although bigger. Gluttonous and energetic, but hesitant around strangers; he's always willing to please Marie.)

Pineco- level 5 (More of a shy type. He admire Marie, but thinks she's a bit extreme.)

The boy mentioned in the last few passages isn't her love interest or anything like that. You'll see later, if you remember him by then.

Thanks for those who reviewed! It's much appreciated!


	3. A Scientist's Irritation

I'm **SO **sorry! I've been extremely busy lately: going to Washington D.C., working on video projects for school, practicing for book competitions: I've just never had the time to upload. Here it is now, at least.

**Disclaimer:** Why would I own Pokemon? I'm a lonely person in front of a computer screen making a story to try to express my admiration for a video game (and its accompanying franchise). The only thing I own are my characters.

* * *

Unceremoniously, Marietta walked onto Route 30 like she had done for the possibly 350th time. The only notable difference was that she wasn't just going to Mr. Pokemon's anymore; she was technically a 'trainer' and was on a journey for research.

She enjoyed walking down through this route, on the occasions when Professor Elm forced her to go outside. There was several Bug Pokemon and the air was, in a way, more enjoyable than in New Bark Town. Kakuna hung from the tree branches, and Weedle and Caterpie scuttled in the grasses near the girl. A particularly mean-looking Weedle had tried to sting her with its needle; however, Ashes quickly took care of the problem without much excitement.

Marie could feel a presence near her, but didn't take much note of it. There was no reason or her to be worried, after all. Effy mewled at her, which she ignored. Suddenly, she heard a young male voice yelling at her.

"HEY! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" An angry boy stomped up to her, waving his net in the air. He had apparently been near her most of the time, and it was only until now that she had noticed him.

"Well?!"He looked up at her, silently demanding an apology and explanation. Marie did not intend to give either.

Instead, she fixed her sharp, dark eyes on him and murmured,"... What? Can you leave me... Alone?"

He flared in irritation, "What do you mean, leave you alone?! Don't you know what you've done?!"

"No..." Should she?

"You chased away the Spinarak! I've been waiting all day to try and capture one!" The Bug Catcher looked impatiently at her, as if it was the most logical explanation in the world.

Marie snickered under her breath, finding his ignorance hilarious.

He gave her a strange look. "What's so funny?"

"... There wasn't a... Spinarak..."

"What do you mean there wasn't?!"

Marie smirked at him."... Spinarak come out... in the evening... with a 30% encounter rate... Unless you shake the trees... What you saw was.. a Caterpie..."

The slightly shorter boy narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you _implying_ that I have bad eyesight and made a mistake..?"

She blinked. "I'm not... Implying anything... I'm merely... Stating a fact."

That had set him off.

Faced filled with rage, he withdrew a Pokeball from the container hung off his shoulder and pointed it straight at her. "That's it! I challenge you to a battle!"

Marie took a few steps back as she looked at the young boy bemusedly. So, he wanted to express his revenge at her pointing out a weakness by battling her? She chuckled, deciding to at least entertain the young boy of his fantasies. "Fine... If you're so eager."

**_'I suspect that y__ou're going to beat him mercilessly,_ right..?'** Effy looked up at her with a knowing look.

_**'Of course, though I doubt you'll need to battle.'** _After deciding she was distanced enough, the young scientist took out Ashes' Pokeball.

"What, are you not going to use your precious Espeon?" The Bug Catcher looked smug, almost certain he was going to win.

"Does it matter to you... What Pokemon I use..?"

He pondered her words for a couple of seconds before shrugging. "Not really. I already know I'm going to win!"

With an elaborate movement, he tossed the Pokeball into the air to release his Pokemon, yelling, "Come on out!"

What was released from the Pokeball was a Ledyba with wide eyes. Marie almost laughed.

Instead, she took Ashes out of his Pokeball with only a quite, "It's time, Ashes..."

Ashes looked at his opponent with a determined look. He remembered that Marie said that every time he won a battle, she'll give him an apple alongside his dinner.

And he quite liked apples.

"Ledyba, use tackle!" The boy commanded to his Pokémon.

The Pokémon cried out loud, and flew head first to Ashes.

"To the right," Marietta said, raising her voice just the slightest bit, prompting the echidna-like Pokémon to head in the direction. "Now Tackle."

He swerved and slammed into the Ledyba, causing it to squeal and making its eyes widen even more than it already was.

"Snap out of it, Ledyba!" The bug catcher yelled at his Pokémon. "Silver wind!"

Marie quirked her eyebrows slightly. _'Silver Wind? That thing couldn't possibly know that. Unless... Breeding, most likely...'_

Without a passing thought, she commanded, "Duck, then to the left."

As Ashes began to do so, his opponent had already flapped its wings, releasing a wind with silver crescents. Although he had dodged a few of them, he still sustained a significant amount of damage.

"Tch." A small frown had settled on the girl's face. '_Dammit, too slow.'_

The boy smirked, his ego growing. "How do you like that, huh?"

Marie, while thoroughly irritated by the younger's snobbiness, had ignored him and instead formulated her strategy. This angered him. He did not enjoy being ignored. Not at all.

"Hey, come on, listen to what I-"

"Leer." She interrupted.

"Wha-"

She narrowed her eyes. "We're having a Pokémon battle. Chit chat of this nature is irrelevant. Ashes, Leer."

_**'Your old nature is coming out, Marie...'** _She ignored her feline companion, not caring that she was right.

The Cyndaquil glared at his opponent, intimidating the Ledyba immensely and making it shudder.

The boy snapped out of his perturbed state just in time to command his Pokémon. "You're not going to beat me! Ledyba, use Silver Wind again."

As the bug began to flap its wings, Marie called out, "Smokescreen, Ashes."

Quickly, he had released a thick, black smoke from his mouth, enshrouding the immediate area around the Pokémon. The Bug Catcher tried to peer into it, but with no luck. Suddenly the silver crescents of Ledyba's move flung out in disarray, with no particular target.

Seeing the opening, Marie called out again. "Ashes, now!"

With a chirp, Ashes had head butted and tackled his opponent into the ground as the smog dissipated. When the insect tried to recover, Marie said, "Again," prompting him to tackle him once more, effectively knocking him out.

The Bug Catcher stood there, mouth agape with disbelief.

"W-what...? Did you just... Beat me...?"

She didn't answer him, instead walking over to Ashes and petting him as thanks. He, in return, chirped happily for pleasing his trainer and leaned into her touch.

"Oi!" Marie turned her head to the boy, looking even more pissed off than he was previously.

She stared at him with an uninterested look, "What is it now...?"

"I want a rematch! Fair and square!"

"... Why?" She and Ashes had won fairly; what reason do you need to have another match?

"Because I know that you cheated! There was no way you could beat me!"

"Actually, I had a 98% of winning since you let out your Ledyba, with a 1.7% chance would end up in a tie, and .3% of a chance with you winning." Marie rattled off the percentage quickly, no longer even looking at the younger.

"What?!"

"I may have not battled much in the last few years, but I am still a better 'trainer' than you." The scientist emphasized the word trainer in an almost mocking tone. "You were cocky- you let your guard down, and Ashes was able to attack Ledyba freely. Not only that, but there wasn't even a strategy to your play, only basic attacks. Even though Silver Wind is a good move, you let your anger command your Pokémon recklessly. And most important of all, you-"

**_"Shut up!"_** Marie turned to look at the boy after his sudden outburst, still squatting down even after returning Ashes.

"It wasn't my fault! I know I'm better than you! It's..." He looked down at his Ledyba."It's your fault! You didn't try hard enough when we trained!"

The Bug Catcher raised his arm, enraged at the Ledyba, who flinched weakly in response. Marie looked up with alarm, silently telling Effy to be ready to stop him.

She didn't need to. Someone else did it for her.

All of a sudden, a brown flash swooped from the trees noiselessly and started to peck maddenly at the boy.

"Hey- You, you stupid bird! Ugh, j-just stop it!" He flailed his arms in a meager defense at his assailant. Marie looked closely at the thing, realizing that it was a Noctowl.

_'Noctowl are usually timid and nonviolent... Does it have a trainer? Where are they?'_

Her questions were soon answered as someone yelled out, ******_"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU WORTHLESS LOUT!"_**

* * *

Thank you for reading this! Please critique it, you'll help me improve my own writing. I think Marietta is developing into an entirely different person than I planned: I like it.

To make up for the lost time, I'm going to post the next chapter soon, okay?


	4. Enter, Pokémon Breeder!

Here's the next chapter!

**Disclaimer:** The day I own Pokémon is the day I convince someone to call me by the pronoun, 'hir'. I only have claim over my OCs.

* * *

_"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU WORTHLESS LOUT!" _A girl's voice rang out in the air. Though laced with anger, its owner was obviously usually relaxed and calm.

Marietta heard rustling from the bush behind her. As she turned around, a somewhat tan female trainer climbed out of the shrubbery. The young scientist studied the stranger: she was around her age and of a mixed Caucasian and Latin descent, with straight, dark brown hair that went to her mid-back made a few shades lighter by the Sun, and even darker, kind eyes (though there was a hint of irritation). Her eyebrows were arched in a way that she always seemed perpetually pleasant, and she had a smile that seemed to be always on her face. Her bangs were swept off her face, and you could see a bit of acne littering her hairline. Although rather short (about 5'1"), she looked and seemed mature in a sense. Her clothes were rather simple, wearing only a plain emerald green shirt with sleeves up to her forearms, jeans, and black sneakers. Her Pokéballs were put onto her belt for quick access and a rucksack was slung off her shoulder.

The girl walked up to the Bug Catcher and said to her Pokémon shockingly calmer than before, "You can stop, Mari. I think you did enough damage for now."

Marie raised her eyebrows in surprise, but then realized that the Noctowl must be named (or nicknamed) Mari. She heard Effy give a hum of pleasure, showing that her first impression of the pair was good. She found that she felt the same as well.

After the owl climbed off the boy, The latter yelled at the stranger, "What was that for?!"

She shrugged. "You were going to hit your Pokémon! I couldn't really just sit and let it happen."

"W-were you watching us?"

"Yeah. You were really loud."

The boy's faced turned red from what seemed to be embarrassment. "W-w-well, you had no right to in my business! What goes on with my Pokémon has nothing to do with you!"

Marie irritably interrupted at this point. "You abusing your Pokémon has everything to do with any other person here. You're nothing better than scum."

"W-why you-!"

"We'll, she is right. We live alongside Pokémon, and we depend on each other. Hurting that relationship is one of the worst things you can do as a Pokémon trainer." The stranger said it rather simply, and then leant down to the Ledyba and sprayed it with a potion. " They aren't just tools, you know."

A silence fell upon the party. It was only after a few minutes that Marietta said to the boy, "Before you rudely cut me off, I was about to tell you why you did so terribly."

"S-so what?"

"Do you recall what you said before you commanded your Ledyba use Silver Wind?"

The Bug Catcher thought back on his words.

_"You're not going to beat **me**!"_

_"_You used **'me'** to address yourself," Marie murmured. "Not _'us'_. Pokémon are our partners in battles, so your victory or loss is both of yours. You don't understand that bond; that's why you lost."

She walked away wordlessly, not bothering to see the shock on her fallen opponent's face or the stranger standing up and running to her.

"Hey!"

Marie turned around slightly to see the other girl. In a bored tone, she asked, "What is it...?"

"It's nice to see someone respecting Pokémon around here. That guy was a total buttmunch."

She crinkled her eyebrows in confusion and bewilderment. "Thank you...?"

The stranger simply smiled slightly bigger in response. "My name's Joanne Oakley. What's yours?"

Marie vaguely remembered that a friend of hers online had a username with the surname Oakley in it, but brushed the idea off. Hesitantly she responded, "Marietta... Marietta Yew..."

Joanne raised her eyebrows as if she suddenly had an epiphany. "I know you! You're the really smart assistant of Professor Elm. I read your online journals."

"You.. Do...?"

"Yeah. I comment all the time. My username's Artemis_Oakley. You probably haven't really seen me."

Marie was surprised. This girl was Artemis_Oakley? She had only responded back to her recent entry about an hour and a half ago!

"T-then... You were in the... Pokémon Center... Too?"

She grinned. "Apparently. I like your journals. It helps me out a lot."

"Really?"

"Yeah! I'm a Pokémon Breeder. New discoveries always help me out!" Joanne went silent for a moment before asking Marie, "Hey... Is it okay if I go along with you? I mean, you could use my help and I could use yours. We'd both benefit from it."

She thought about it. The scientist found herself liking the girl a lot. She was kind of strange; but in a good way. Not to mention she used the word 'lout' in a sentence. She thought no one else but her used that as an insult. Traveling in a group is also safer, Marietta reasoned. There really wasn't a reason to say no.

"... Okay. I'm.. Fine with it."

"Okay then! away we go!" She used her pointer finger to point in the direction of Violet City, and the duo headed off.

* * *

"So, who's your friend there?" Joanne questioned, gesturing to Effy.

After stopping by the gentleman with the Apricorns ("You have taken good care of that Apricorn Box I gave you, right?") and saying hello to Mr. Pokémon ("Hrmm? Is that a friend that you bring with you, Marie? A Pokémon Breeder? How wonderful!"), the two female trainers and their Pokémon began to walk on Route 31. It was about 5, and they hoped to reach Violet City before it turned dark.

Looking down at her, Marie said, "Her? This is... Effy. She's been with me for... A while... Since I was about 5... And she was just an Eevee.." She glanced over to her human companion's Noctowl, who was gliding noiselessly above them. "How about.. You? Your Noctowl seems very faithful..."

"Oh! This is Maria. I've known her for a long time. I hatched her myself," she exclaimed with a hint of pride."What other Pokémon do you have?"

"You probably already saw... Ashes, right? He's my Cyndaquil... I also have a Pineco as... My companion..."

"That's cool." The slightly taller girl gave a thumbs up for a couple of seconds. "I have a Ponyta. His name's Narwhal." The other girl shot her a strange look, but it was ignored. "And then there's Mellow, my Igglybuff. He's so floofy~."

Marie chuckled. She had struck up a strange friendship for sure. She saw Effy mewl happily at Maria, knowing that they were growing close, too.

Joanne looked up and saw a cave up ahead. She asked, "What's in that cavern over there? Is there anything interesting?"

"Hmm?" Marie looked up, and saw what she was talking about. "Oh. That's... The Dark Cave. It connects to... Blackthorn City, but... There are boulders blocking it. The only... Interesting thing you may find... Would be the Dunsparce... But only if you're lucky.."

A mischievous glint appeared in her eyes. "Let's go then!"

"... You really want to go in there...?"

"Well, yeah! It'll be an adventure! Maybe we'll see something _fascinating_." Without really waiting for an answer, Joanne went ahead towards the cave. The scientist reached a hand to halt her, but stopped. Instead, she sighed and pushed up her glasses.

_'So much for reaching Violet City before dark.' _She thought as she followed with a half-smile.

* * *

Joanne is based off my friend Maria (as shown by her Noctowl) and is a rather laid back character that likes figuring out new things. She tries to keep the pessimistic Marietta somewhat optimistic. I took her advice on what she would say and I putted it into her story to keep it as accurate as possible (I still find her naming sense weird).

She doesn't really like the Bug Catchers. Nor do most of my friends.


	5. Now Like What I've Heard

I'm sorry I haven't been posting, but it here are more end of the year exams, and I've been struggling emotionally. Along with my worsening depression came writer's block, which took a while to get rid of.

Thank you for the reviews! I take them all into consideration, so thank you for writing them out.

But to ple1999...

What are you doing here? I know who you are. We _know each other _**_in real life_**. Why aren't you telling me these things? We spend at least two hours each day on weekdays close to each other, for Pete's sake!

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Pokémon, I'd be making sure there would be a remake of the 3rd Generation, okay. But I'm not. All I own are my OCs.

* * *

"It's pretty dark in here," commented Joanne as they entered the Dark Cave.

"Like its name implies," Marietta muttered. She reminisced about the last time she was there, then vanished it away from her mind almost as quickly as it came. It wasn't necessarily a good memory, after all.

_'Still,' _she thought, _'I don't remember it being this dim the last time.'_

_"_Does Maria know Flash?" Asked Marie. "Or maybe... Mellow?"

"I'm afraid not. I thought that Effy would know." She looked down at said Pokémon, who was batting at some gravel.

The scientist sighed. "I guess we have to... Use another light source."

"Like what?" Without answering her companion, Marie pulled out a little flashlight, its small rays shining through the inky darkness. With her other hand she pulled out her Pokédex and turned it on.

"Hold this," she ordered Joanne before handing over the flashlight.

"I guess this works.." Its light was very limited, but the party could at least see a couple feet in front of them. The Pokédex also lit up their immediate surroundings.

"... We'll just have to rely... On Maria if it gets too dark.." The shorter girl gestured to the Noctowl, who hooted her agreement.

The pair started to walk further in, occasionally hearing the cries of the Zubat. The cave was mildly chilly, and Marietta was a little bit grateful that she opted for wearing thick layers (wearing a black sweater under her already warm black coat and skinny jeans) while Joanne shivered slightly and rubbed her arms. Occasionally, they bumped into aggressive wild Pokémon, and battled them together. (They were both pleasantly surprised at how well their battle techniques worked alongside the other; Marie noted the tanner girl's experience while Joanne complimented her analytical tactics.)

After the Breeder helped her companion up after tripping over a crack and climbing over a small ledge, they had reached a dead end.

... Though, not necessarily. A boulder blocked their path from going any farther, and Marie presumed that was the extent of their search and they would go back down to Violet City. She sighed and said,"That's about as far as we'll go... We should turn ba-"

"We could climb it," Joanne replied, ignoring her friend. "It's not too big of a boulder. We could scale it."

The scientist looked at her incredulously. "_What? _We can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"It's dangerous! Something could easily... Go wrong, and I don't believe there's something worth... Risking our lives for...!" You could hear the distress in her voice, almost pleading for her companion to listen a bit.

"But it'll be exciting! Think of the adventure, and what if there's _treasure_? C'mon, it might be really fun."

"Oh, that is the most ridic-"

"At least _try_."

She groaned in defeat, knowing that they would make no progress bickering with each other. "Fine... But I'm not responsible.. For whatever you do."

Joanne grinned at her in response, and said,"Okay then! Now, help me up so I won't slip, and then I'll help you."

"Umm... I'm not sure if... I'm strong enough for this.." Marie hesitantly murmured as she started to assist her companion in lifting her onto the gigantic rock.

"It's just a little bit of lifting. On three!" She turned to look at her before looking back up. "Now.. One.. Two.. Three!"

With a great effort, Marie pushed and lifted Joanne upwards, letting her to reach and climb on top of the boulder. She called down to the scientist, "Okay, now grab my hand, and I'll help pull you up."

She reluctantly trusted the Breeder, and with her assistance, climbed up the boulder alongside her. However, her hand slipped, and she dropped her Pokèdex, letting the grey device plummet below on the other side.

"You've got to be fucking with me right now...!" Marie leaned and stretched her arm down in a desperate way to try to catch the Pokédex, but slipping past her fingers by a couple of inches. Gravity decided to work against her, so her futile attempt made her lean forward too much and she suddenly realized she was crashing toward the ground.

_'Crap, crap, crap!' _She silently swore herself off in her mind for her carelessness, and sort of flailed. Joanne had tried to grab her back so she wouldn't fall, but ended up succumbing to physics like her companion, shrieking on the way down.

They both landed with a loud _Thud!_, the researcher on her arm and the breeder on her bum. Luckily, the boulder was at most ten feet from the ground, so they didn't sustain large injuries.

Marie felt a scathing sensation on her forearm, and her jacket felt slightly wet. However, she was more focused on the blistering migraine that throbbed in the back of her head, mixing and scrambling her thought process. She looked over at Joanne in a daze. It seemed like she was also in some pain, clutching her side with a wince. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the nefarious electronic encyclopedia undamaged, and grabbed it quickly.

"I _told _you that things were going to go wrong...!" The scientist angrily mumbled to Joanne.

"But hey, we made it to the other side," she cheekily reminded her with a grin. "And- What's that?"

Marie looked to where her partner was staring. At first, she only saw a hole in the ground, but she noticed a pale, yellow point protruding from it, rising up until it was revealed to be a drill. She stared at it in slight confusion, before realizing what it was.

"Shit," she muttered. The taller girl looked over at her, and the scientist started to explain. "I think we just disturbed... A Dunsparce nest.. Maybe even several.."

As she finished talking, the Pokémon had poked its head up, and started slithering out of its burrow. And then another. And another. A few more Dunsparce began to come out, until there was around fifteen.

"This doesn't look good.." Marie began to get up, Effy trotting over to her and preparing herself, and glanced at Joanne. The other ignored her, and stared at the land snake Pokémon in surprise and wonder.

"Wow.." She whispered in near excitement. Now, it was Marietta's turn to be confused, but she wasn't for long. "I never realized that they were so big!"

"... _What_?"

"Well, you only see the animated Dunsparce on TV, and they're always really, really small. I didn't know they were this big!"

The scientist was always aware of the size of the pale yellow Pokémon, and had a sort of respect for them. After all, they were nearly as tall as her. But although she knew of their shy behavior, she also knew about their ability to swarm.

Marie quickly scanned a Dunsparce, before releasing Pineco. She told Joanne, "They're mad. They're going to want... To fight us... Get ready."

She nodded in response, and unhooked a Pokéball from her belt then threw it into the air.

"Go, Narwhal!" Joanne yelled out. The bright flash dissipated, and revealed a sleek Ponyta.

One of the Dunsparce attacked first, a young one who hadn't quite reached adulthood. It puffed up and turned a slightly crimson hue, as if in embarrassment or anger, and went slithered furiously over to Pineco before hopping up into the air and slamming into the insect. Other members of its family started to follow suit.

In surprise, he recoiled backwards and cried out in pain as they smothered him. Gritting her teeth, Marie called out to him in a somewhat regretful tone,"Pineco, use Selfdestruct!"

The pinecone began to glow a brilliant blue, before suddenly exploding violently. Marie shielded her eyes from the burst with eyes and squinted, Joanne doing the same. After the brilliant display, it dissolved and knocked out Dunsparce and a fizzled out Pineco was left. She remorsefully withdrew him, muttering under her breath a quiet "Sorry" and "Thanks for your hard work."

Effy pawed at her friend's leg, and they looked at each other. Without even having to speak to her, Marie knew what she meant, and telepathically said to her, **_"You ready?"_**

_**"Whenever you are,"**_ the Espeon mewled.

In the midst of this incident, Joanne and Narwhal had faced some of the other Dunsparce, with only three being knocked out by the explosion. After defeating one, they began fighting a rather large land snake.

"Use Tackle," Joanne called out to her Pokémon in a loud voice, eliciting him to ram headfirst into his opponent. The Dunsparce let out a wail of pain before attempting to slam into the pony again. Unbeknownst to him, however, another angry Dunsparce was behind the Ponyta, glowing a bright white before releasing a silver orb towards Narwhal*.

Knowing that he was too distracted to notice it, the Breeder yelled out, "Maria! Night Shade!"

Swiftly, the owl's glowed pink and she became surrounded by a purple aura, before releasing several dark rings at the ball, making it dissipate into nothing. She then quickly swooped down quickly towards the cowardly Dunsparce and knocked it out. Without being commanded to do so, Narwhal ran at the other Dunsparce, becoming enveloped in flames then tackling into it.

"Nice Flame Wheel," Marie commented offhandedly as she saw the spectacle, somewhat impressed by the Pokemon Breeder's skill. She quickly turned her attention back to her own battles, with many of the pale gold Pokémon going against Effy. Said feline sat there, tense, waiting for the command.

_ **" Go." **_She immediately disappeared from her friend's order, leaving the Dunsparce confused until one of them was suddenly hit and fainted, with only a white trail left behind. They cried out as each was attacked, until only one was left standing.

Joanne put Narwhal back into her Pokéball after thanking her, already finished on her side. Maria flew down and perched herself on a large rock, waiting.

_**"P-Please, leave us alone!"** _The lone wild Pokémon stuttered out meekly to Effy in a weak defense. **_"We only wanted to protect our nest!"_**

_**"Why did you see us as a threat?**" _The lilac Pokémon moved elegantly towards it, forked tail swishing back and forth and eyes glinting.

**_"We thought you were going to attack us! We felt a tremor, and then suddenly there were those humans and that Noctowl! The elder thought that it would eat all of us after you took us down!"_**

Effy looked at it amusedly before relaying the message to Maria, who wasn't listening. After hearing it, she hooted in laughter before telling the Dunsparce, _**"Don't be silly, young Dunsparce. I'm more of a... Fish type of eater."**_

The pale snake sighed in relief, before getting more fidgety and saying, **_"But what about my family? Are they just going to die here?"_**

Marietta, having being told by Effy what they were saying, looked directly into the Dunsparce's eyes (?) and said, "I'm going to assume you understand me... I apologize for us frightening you and your relatives.. We had fallen from that boulder under my companion's-" She looked accusingly at Joanne. "Insistence. I hope you forgive our intrusion..."

The Dunsparce moved his head in a way similar to nodding. **_"I should also say sorry for attacking you guys. Please, help us!'_**

"What're they saying?" Joanne asked the scientist, not aware of the contents of the conversation.

She raised an eyebrow in response, before replying, "Because of you, the Dunsparce thought we were going to... Attack them and let Marie eat their bodies.. Now, we need to heal them..."

She formed her mouth in the shape of an O in understanding. "Okay. Then you take those over there and I'll take these here, okay?"

The pale girl nodded. They quickly swept over to the Dunsparce, spraying them with potions and feeding them for the next two hours. They then carried them over to the hole, where a greyish yellow Dunsparce crawled out. It mumbled in a quiet voice, **_"Thank you for taking care of the young'uns. They get riled up easily."_**

Marie blinked and said, "It was partially... Our fault anyways... We'll take our leave now, and I hope... You guys do well..."

After waving goodbye, she moved in the opposite direction from the nest, Effy trotting alongside her. Joanne and Maria followed suit, until they were far away enough from the Dunsparce.

"We're going back." Marietta's voice was unwavering and blunt, leaving no room for questions. She walked to a small ledge that would quickly get them back to the entrance of the Dark Cave.

"Why?" The Breeder stopped behind her. "If we go onwards, we could even reach Blackthorn City!"

"I was planning on getting to Violet City," she snapped back. "I have business there to complete, and it'd be better to span as much territory as we can. If you want to leave, fine."

Joanne was taken aback by her coldness and frowned, before a sudden realization seemed to dawn on her. She then broke into a grin, and said, "Okay then. Let's go back."

Marie, surprised by her change of mood, just nodded, and the companions climbed down the ledge, towards the light of the exit.

* * *

It started to get dark halfway down Route 31, and Joanne said it'd be a good idea to set up camp, locating a small, safe clearing.

After seeing to their injuries (Marietta had unsurprisingly bruised her shoulder and drew a long cut on her arm while Joanne had bumped her head and scraped the back of her knees), the Breeder and researcher put up their own tents (green and brown respectively) and each did something different. Joanne began to prepare both of their dinners, Marietta collected firewood to start a fire (looking at the local fauna and Pokémon while doing so), and Effy and Maria stood as lookout for their trainers.

After their campsite was ready, they sat in a small circle around the fire, the only light illuminating their faces. Marie was writing in a black book, most likely of their encounter and the behavior of the Dunsparce, while eating the sandwiches Joanne made. She, in return, was reading what looked like a fantasy novel. Both of their Pokémon were out of their balls, Ashes delightfully devouring both the sandwiches and promised apples, Pineco hanging and sleeping from a nearby tree, Mellow the Igglybuff sitting comfortably in her owner's lap, and Effy and Maria chatting quietly with each other.

The air was a bit tense. The two humans had barely talked to each other after leaving the Dark Cave. The scientist had felt slightly guilty for her harsh tone towards the other, and wanted to make amends.

"I'd like to apologize," Marie awkwardly murmured aloud as she rubbed the nape of her neck. Joanne looked up from the story, surprised she spoke. "I shouldn't have spoken so rudely to you. For that, I am sorry."

The breeder looked at her for a few seconds, then uncrossed her legs. Smiling, she leaned forward and replied, "It's fine. You meant well, after all."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean by that..?"

Joanne shrugged. "You were obviously really angry, but you were also worried and a bit casual about it." Seeing that it just made the other more confused, she continued. "When we first met, you were speaking passionately about the Pokémon, yet you were much more reserved and quiet while we talked. Even in battle, you were like that. But when I protested at going back, you spoke in the same passionate voice, and even now you are!... I'd like to think you speak like that with people you're comfortable with."

Marie blinked, surprised at Joanne's acute observation. "... Then, what do you think this means?"

Joanne smiled her kind, relaxed smile. " I think that means we're friends, and you were worried about me. Am I wrong?"

She pondered on what the tan girl said, and realized that she was right. Marie had never felt so quickly comfortable around another person in her life (except for Professor Elm, who warmly accepted that while she was a genius, she was still only a small, frail child). She wasn't used to having friends of the human kind, yet here Joanne was, a strange, easygoing, and intelligent girl who had immediately stuck to her.

Finally, she said, "... No. You're entirely right. I think that means we're..." She hesitated. ".. Friends. Shockingly."

Joanne laughed. "You aren't like they said you were."

"... What?"

"There was a lot of people talking about how the prodigy of the science community was cruel, cold, and evil. Someone even said you were the incarnation of the devil."

"Well, that's certainly.. Out there."

"But, you know, you're actually really kind. Very unusual and awkward, yes, but you're a good person."

Marie smiled softly. "Thanks."

For the first time in years, Marietta spent most of the night talking with someone rather than writing. And Effy and Maria looked over at them knowingly.

* * *

I figured some wild Pokémon inherit moves from their father, Ancient Power in this case.

Please critique and review!


End file.
